


stand, fellows, let us now salute her name!

by thotsandfeelings



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:00:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27084526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thotsandfeelings/pseuds/thotsandfeelings
Summary: “I had a meeting with Congressman Warner today.”He scrunches his eyebrows, trying to place a face to the name. “The one from Arizona or Wisconsin?”“Wisconsin.”
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Comments: 25
Kudos: 117





	stand, fellows, let us now salute her name!

Donna’s leg twitches as she sits on the couch and waits for Josh to come home. The First Lady is at an event with the kids, so Donna’s been home for a few hours with nothing but restless energy. She’s already cleaned the kitchen and done a load of laundry and scrubbed the shower until her fingers turned pruny, but anxiety is still coursing through her. 

She’s about to get up to tackle Josh’s mess on their kitchen table/office, but she sits up straight when she hears the agent posted at the door tell Josh’s detail that it’s all clear and her heartbeat pounds in her ears as she waits the two minutes it takes for him to climb up the stairs and open the door. 

He waltzes in with his phone to his ear. “Sam, just handle it for me, alright? I just got home, I don’t want to deal with Congress right now. Yeah, I owe you one. Bye,” he says and Donna watches him as he throws his phone and keys on the entryway table haphazardly, drops his bookbag right by the door and walks over to collapse on the couch. He lays his head in her lap and closes his eyes and she can’t help but smile and run her fingers through his hair, her worries dissipating slightly when he reaches up to pull her down for a quick kiss. 

“Hi, honey,” he murmurs, kissing her again. “How was your day?” 

He stretches more fully onto the couch and grabs her arm to wrap it over his chest.

“It was good,” she says, her fingers still running through his hair a little anxiously. 

Josh hums and rubs the arm across his chest. “How was the thing this morning?”

“It was fine. Helen’s a pro. It went off without a hitch.”

“Well, sure, but you get to take some credit,” he says, grinning up at her. “I didn’t see you for two days because you made sure it was absolutely perfect. You can give me a little more than ‘it was fine’.”

Donna fidgets beneath him. “Josh, I really need to—“ 

His brows furrow as she nudges him off of her and stands up to pace around their coffee table. 

“Donna, what’s wrong? You just said it went off without a hitch.”

“It’s not about Helen, it’s about me,” she clarifies and he sits up on the couch as Donna chews on her lip. “I wrote about four drafts of this speech and it still wouldn’t come out right, so I thought—“

“Just spit it out, babe. You’re scaring me.”

“I had a meeting with Congressman Warner today.”

He scrunches his eyebrows, trying to place a face to the name. “The one from Arizona or Wisconsin?” 

“Wisconsin,” she whispers and a small smile starts growing on her face. “He hasn’t officially announced it yet, but he’s not running again in his district for the midterms next year.”

“What?! We can’t have a Republican win his seat,” Josh interjects. “I gotta have Sam call the DNC for this now, too. Honestly, Donna, these Democrats are killing me. I mean–”

“He asked me if I was interested in running for his seat.”

Josh freezes, his mouth hanging open as he looks at her. Donna bites her lip nervously as she waits for him to connect the dots. His eyes search hers for a long moment before a slow smile slides across his face and he stands, making his way slowly over to her. He grabs her hand and his eyes are dancing happily as he looks at her. “Are you trying to tell me that you’re gonna run for the House of Representatives?”

She shrugs a shoulder and grins at him a little nervously. “He said he remembered I was from Wisconsin and he knows it’s not really practice for him to seek out his own possible replacement, but that he really likes the President’s education plan and he wants me to get Wisconsin’s ass in gear. He said he was really impressed after the event the First Lady put on last month. I told him I was flattered and that I needed to talk to you, but...”

“Donna,” he murmurs and tugs on her hand. “You’re running for _Congress_?”

She bites her lip again. “It’s a big decision, Josh, and I didn’t make him any promises other than to think about it, so…”

“Donna!” he yells and he wraps his arms around her tightly. “What’s there to think about? You’ll be _incredible_ ,” he says and he kisses her temple. “We can start small and corral all your mom’s friends from the school districts into a Town Hall and get your education plan down. I mean, I wrote the President’s plan, I’ll give you permission to steal some points and then we can–”

“Josh,” she says, pushing back on his shoulders. “Slow down. I haven’t said yes yet.”

He pulls away from her and continues her earlier path around the coffee table as he works out his thoughts. “We can claim residency in Madison and get a staff together in the next couple months. I’ll have to talk to the President about taking time off next year when everything heats up, but it’s doable. Warner won with 58% of the vote, you could win it with at _least_ the low 60s. From what I hear, the RNC picked some idiot who barely graduated high school and–”

“Joshua,” she says firmly and grabs his arm to make him stop talking. “I need you to listen to me very carefully, alright?”

Josh stands up straight and nods his head. “Okay.”

“You are not running my campaign,” she says. “You can advise and you can be my supportive husband, but you are _not_ the campaign manager. I need you to understand that right now.”

“Donna–“

“If, and it’s a _massive_ if, I decide to do this, I can’t worry about you running into the ground over money and media and polling numbers, Josh. We just got through re-election, I’m not going through this for a _fifth_ time with you.”

“But I’m four for four!” he argues. “Honestly, Donna, I’ll be doing it anyway, so wouldn’t you rather want to make it known up front that I’m–“

“No,” she says firmly and she crosses her arms. “It’s a dealbreaker, Josh.”

He huffs and looks at her for a moment before relenting. “Fine. But I get to help you choose your core staff.”

“Josh.”

“Come on,” he pleads and he grabs her hand again. “This is huge! I can’t just sit on the sidelines while my wife becomes a congresswoman and do absolutely nothing to help.”

Donna smiles at him and wraps her arms around his neck. “You have enough on your plate as is,” she says softly. “And you not killing yourself over another election _will_ help. I don’t need the Chief of Staff or a monomaniacal campaign manager. I just need you,” she says. “If you’re okay with it, that is.”

“Okay with it?” he says incredulously. “Of course I’m okay with it. I’m honestly mad I didn’t think of it first,” he says and he clasps his hands around her back. “It makes sense, Donna. You went through those public schools, your father was part of a union for 30 years, you’re young and bright and you know the ins and outs of the Hill already. You could get some serious work done.”

Donna exhales heavily and leans into him, resting her chin on his shoulder as she hugs him tightly. Josh just holds her and kisses her head as he slowly works the knots out of her back and shoulders. 

“God, you’re tense,” he says. “Was this really stressing you out this much?” She nods her head against his shoulder. “Why?”

Donna doesn’t answer him immediately, just keeps her face tucked into his neck until the anxiety finally leaves her system. She exhales again and leans back, but keeps her arms around his neck. 

“What if I lose?” she asks quietly and she looks down, away from his eyes. “Or what if I win and I'm terrible? I never saw this life for myself. I was always content just being in the shadows, you know?”

Josh nods. “I do know,” he murmurs and he tilts her chin up so he can see her. “But that’s not you, Donna. You’re the guy. I’m the guy that the guy counts on, but you’re _the guy_.” Donna’s eyes well up, but Josh continues. “If you decide to pursue this, I am right behind you. You’re the real thing, Donna, and they would be so lucky to have you.”

She sniffs, but smiles widely at him as she makes up her mind. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

Donna nods and wipes under her eye. “I’ll talk to Helen this weekend.”

“And Congressman Warner,” Josh leads, his eyes shining brightly at her as a huge smile crosses his face. 

“ _And_ Congressman Warner,” she says. “You and I have to get our ducks in row, but then…”

“You’re running for Congress,” Josh states.

Donna looks at him, trying to commit this moment to her memory. She hasn’t seen Josh look this happy since their wedding day and her heart expands a little more in her chest for this perfect, supportive man she has. He squeezes her waist in encouragement and she lets out a relieved giggle as she finally nods her head.

“I’m running for Congress.”

Josh wraps her up in a tight hug again and actually lifts her so he can spin her around, a breathless laugh escaping both of them. “I’m so proud of you,” he whispers in her ear and he kisses her deeply before pulling back and dragging her towards the kitchen exclaiming, “this calls for champagne!”

Donna’s face hurts from smiling so much as she follows him into their kitchen and she hops up on the island as Josh pops a bottle of Dom and pours the bubbly liquid into the flutes that the Bartlet’s had gotten them as a wedding gift. He hands her one and holds his up in a toast.

“To the future Congresswoman Moss,” he says, his dimples glinting at her and she clinks her glass with his.

“Congresswoman Moss-Lyman,” she corrects before taking a sip. 

“Are you sure?” he asks, setting his drink down. “This is all you, Donna, I don’t want my name to ruin it in any way.”

Donna shakes her head and pulls him to stand between her legs. “It’s my name, too, Josh,” she says simply and she hooks her ankle around the back of his knee. 

He hums and curls her hair behind her ear and leans in close. “Congresswoman Moss-Lyman,” he repeats. “That’s kinda hot.”

She smirks and runs her hands up his arms. “Yeah?”

He nods. “Hell yeah.”

“Even though I’ll be the enemy?” she asks innocently and she grabs his tie in her hands, loosening the knot and pulling him closer to her.

“I can’t _wait_ to fight with you over cheese and dairy farm subsidies,” he says, bumping her nose with his and she hums.

“You’re lucky I won’t represent Green Bay. We’d have a lot of fun arguing over toilet paper production.”

Josh chuckles and kisses her soundly. “Thank God for small favors,” he jokes.

Donna smiles and sighs before biting her lip again. “You’re _sure_ you’re okay with this?”

“If I could have 350 Donnas in Congress, I would, honey,” he says and he kisses her forehead. “Believe me.”

“If only the FBI would work a little faster on their cloning program.”

“I’ll light a fire under them,” he murmurs and he squeezes her thighs. “Do you want to go celebrate?” He checks his watch. “It’s still kind of early, I’m sure I could get us a table at the Ritz if you wanted to go full fancy.”

Donna shakes her head and wraps both legs around his waist and reaches over for the bottle of champagne. She tops both their glasses off and tugs on his tie again, forcing his body flush against hers. 

“No,” she whispers, taking a long drink before kissing him firmly. Josh moans softly into her mouth and blinks dazedly at her when she pulls away, a mischievous look in her eye. “I think I’d rather stay home and have sex on the couch if that’s okay with you.”

“See,” he says, nodding his head. “This is what I’m talking about. You’re so smart.”

Donna downs the rest of her glass and grabs the bottle again before nudging Josh back so she can slip off the counter. He follows her instinctually, loosening his tie even more so he can tug it off his neck, and he grabs her by the waist. He reaches around her for the bottle and he brings it to his lips, taking a healthy sip. He sets it down on the coffee table and keeps his arm tight around her so he can kiss her neck. She sighs happily against him and leans to the side so he has better access.

“I love you,” he murmurs and turns her around so he can kiss her properly. “Even though you’re potentially making me _literally_ get in bed with Congress.”

Donna snorts and pushes him to sit on the couch. “We’ll have to find a power balance,” she says before taking off her shirt and straddling his lap. “You can be Chief of Staff during working hours, I’ll take the night shift.”

She grinds into him suggestively and his hands grip her hips to hold her steady. “Sounds like a plan,” he breathes and he captures her lips with his.

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by Janel talking about Donna possibly being a Senator in 2020. I had her start as a Congresswoman in 2010 ;)
> 
> Also 'Wisconsin' doesn't sound like a real word to me anymore. Hope you enjoyed! :)
> 
> (Title is from UW fight song. Go Badgers!)


End file.
